


A Technicolor Future

by tealmoon



Series: Yesterday's Dreams [4]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Underfell, Alternate Universe - Underswap, Gen, Social Anxiety, i guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-28
Updated: 2016-04-28
Packaged: 2018-06-05 03:00:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6686482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tealmoon/pseuds/tealmoon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sans finally gets the opportunity for some of his friends to meet his alternate-dimensional twin! It'd just be easier if Red wasn't absolutely terrified of everyone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Technicolor Future

After the first few days, it wasn’t that weird having another skeleton in the house. Red was quiet, he didn’t make a mess (he didn’t have any possessions to make a mess with), and he barely asked for anything. He and Papyrus had been whispering about timelines and dimensions, trying to be sneaky as if Sans didn’t know already, but it seemed like Red was there to stay.

That was for the better, in Sans’s opinion. From what they had heard about his home and from the way he flinched at everything, it would be better for him to stay somewhere kind, with friends. And what place was kinder than Snowdin?

He had started going with Papyrus on his shifts—Red was still throwing off the last of his sickness, and it wouldn’t do to have him tramping through the snow with Sans on his patrols. They both lent him paperbacks to read, but every time Sans passed by the station, he was curled up under the counter by Papyrus’s feet and napping, away from the wind and cold air. Poor guy had even less energy than Papyrus, somehow.

The two of them were waiting for him on the edge of town when he finished for the day, and though Red was silent and hid in the fur of his hood, he looked a lot healthier than he had a few days before. That counted as a victory in Sans’s eyes! He greeted his brother with a brief hug and nodded to Red before leading them back into Snowdin. Rather than making dinner that night, he had promised Papyrus that they could go to Muffet’s—he hated how much sugar she used in everything, but it was Papyrus’s favorite and he had wanted Red to try it.

His reaction was odd, though. His steps slowed as they approached, and he kept looking around for something, Sans wasn’t sure what. When his gaze returned to the sign in the window, he looked stricken, his pupils vanishing.

“Is something wrong, Red? Do you not like Muffet’s either?”

He said something Sans couldn’t catch but followed them over the threshold willingly. The café was starting to fill up with the dinner crowd, and Papyrus waved to a few other regulars. Red winced as a group of spiders led them to a side table and dangled menus down from the thick webs that kept them stored on the ceiling. Maybe he just didn’t like spiders? Most of the locals had gotten used to them, but maybe to an outsider it was intimidating.

Papyrus didn’t even have to look at the menu before he passed it back. “The usual, ‘kay?” It took Sans another minute, but there wasn’t much that Muffet offered that wasn’t achingly sweet. He ordered a quiche and milk (good for strong bones!), before turning to Red, who was staring off into space and not even looking at his menu.

“Red, what do you want?” Silence. “…Are you alright?” When he didn’t get an answer, Sans kept talking. “We could order for you, if you want. Do you like chocolate? Fruit? What do you want to drink?”

He couldn’t seem to focus or hear them, and Sans and Papyrus shared a baffled look. Maybe he was _afraid_ of spiders, from the way he pressed back in his chair, leaning away from the table. After a few minutes of silence, Papyrus shrugged. “Water and plain cheesecake for him, I guess.”

The spiders poured off the table, a few coming down to retrieve the menus. Red seemed to breathe a little easier, though his fists were still clenched. Sans scrambled to fill the silence. “Papyrus! How was your shift? Anything interesting happen?”

“Nah, not much. No one even came by. _Snow_ problems at all.” Sans kicked at Papyrus under the table; if he was going start making puns, they could at least be original, rather than the ones he had been recycling for years! “How was your patrol?”

Sans launched into an excited explanation of how his puzzles were doing and the modifications he was planning to make, Papyrus cutting in with increasingly uninspired puns. Sans didn’t have the heart to tell him off, not when they made Red snicker, recovering from whatever episode he had just had.

He seemed more prepared as a sea of spiders approached, bearing three trays. Papyrus picked them up in a wave of orange magic rather than making the spiders haul it up onto the table, and Red made a face at Papyrus’s plate. It was familiar—Sans had given him that look a hundred times in the past. His usual was baklava soaked in honey, with an extra honey bottle on the side that he squeezed liberally into his tea before taking a straight sip.

“That’s gross as hell,” Red said, and his voice was only a little shaky. “Everything you touch must get sticky.”

“You should see his laundry,” Sans said, and Papyrus scoffed.

“Are you two ganging up on me? Mustard’s not any better.”

It took a minute for him to start eating, methodically cutting apart his cheesecake and staring down at it critically. Sans couldn’t imagine what he was looking for, but he didn’t try any before he had inspected all of it from multiple angles. Eventually, Red seemed to relax as he defended his favorite condiment in between hesitant bites, sparing fewer glances at the spiders on the walls. Maybe he was starting to settle in. Maybe he would start to go out on his own, rather than sticking to their sides and only venturing away to go to his brother’s grave. If Snowdin was going to become his home, he needed to feel safe and familiar, rather than treating everything as a dangerous anomaly.

He almost looked calm, if not quite happy, when the door opened and all the color drained out of him, his pupils and the flush across his cheekbones gone. Sans was sitting with his back to the door, so he turned in his chair to look, and… oh.

 _Oh_ , that was definitely the queen. Sans nearly toppled his chair in a rush to bow. If he was going to be in the Royal Guard, he had to show proper respect. It irked him to see Papyrus only dip his head rather than getting up, but Sans was distracted by a pale face peeking out from behind Toriel’s armor.

“Chara! We missed you!” Sans hurried forward to snatch the human up in a hug, and they even hugged back! When he first met them, they hadn’t tolerated hugs at all, but with every month they spent in the Underground, they were getting much better at it.

“I didn’t expect to see the two of you here,” Toriel said. “Mind if we join you?” He nodded in excitement and helped her push a second table beside theirs. Her gaze landed on Red, and Sans turned to look as well, his brief elation sinking. He had gone completely still except for a lone drop of sweat sliding down his skull, and his fork had fallen out of his limp fingers.

“And here I thought I knew every monster in the Underground. I am Toriel Dreemurr, though I imagine you already know that. And you are?”

Red nearly fell out of his chair, her voice seeming to bring him back to reality, and he knelt at her feet, bent double so that his forehead nearly grazed the floor. “Your Majesty! Oh God, I-I--” He forced back a laugh that Sans would have paid a lot of gold never to hear again.

She stared down at him, looking very uncomfortable, and bent down to offer him her hand. “I’m sorry to have upset you. Please think of me not as the queen, but merely a monster who wants to join you for tea. What is your name?”

“This is Red,” Papyrus said, gesturing with the honey bottle as Red settled back in his chair, flushed and shaking faintly. “Our cousin. He’s shy, obviously, which is why you’ve never met him. Red, this is Toriel and Chara Dreemurr.” Chara stared at Red, but Sans had no idea what they were thinking.

She and Chara sat down. “Red? That does not seem like a typical skeleton name, if you do not mind me saying.” His tremors deepened at Toriel’s words, until he was rattling softly. Sans shot him a concerned look that he didn’t notice, but Papyrus seemed to have it under control.

“Well, y’see,” he said, taking sips of honey between words. “We’re all named after fonts, right? It’s just how it is. My little bro here, for example, is Lucida Sans.” Sans whined a little bit at his brother; that was private information! “But whoever named Red didn’t get the memo, and he’s DejaVu Sans. We can’t really have two Sans running around, so it’s just Red. Maybe it’ll start a trend and you’ll be seeing color-named skeletons next century.”

Toriel laughed softly, though her attention was dragged away as Muffet rushed out of the kitchen and hurried over, curtsying with her apron. “Your Majesty! So lovely to see you in my café, what would you like?” Red seemed like he was on the edge of more panic, staring at her as if she was going to attack, but Muffet only had eyes for Toriel, barely even glancing at him.

“Tea for the both of us, and some of your chocolate cake for Chara, if you would.”

“Of course! So nice to see you, Chara dear.” The human nodded with a rare smile at the thought of chocolate, and Muffet retreated to the kitchen, spiders trailing behind her.

“So, Red… Ah, shall I call you that as well?” He gave a jerky nod. “Where are you from? If there’s some part of the Underground that I have been neglecting to have not met you, it would be a shame.”

When he could only stammer and probably wasn’t up to making lies, Sans and Papyrus tried to carry his side of the conversation, though Red kept getting shakier, giving up on his half-eaten cheesecake. Chara mostly sat back and watched the exchange, more interested in their cake than anything.

“He’s from Hotland,” Sans managed, wishing they had spent a little more time on Red’s cover story. Just because the lie had passed inspection once didn’t mean that the Queen would accept it.

“Oh? What part of Hotland? Is there some mysterious compound of extra skeletons I don’t know about?” For some reason, that made Red tense up, and Sans wished he had the opportunity to ask. Maybe he was thinking about his brother?

“Nah, not really. Just Red, for now, and he’s moved to Snowdin, you know how crowded Hotland has been getting.” Toriel squinted at Papyrus, so it must have been obvious to her that he was dodging the harder questions.

Eventually, Toriel seemed to give up after her questions to Red all ran into silence or half-answers (how he was liking Snowdin, what was the rest of his family like, what did he do for work?). “Well, this has been lovely, but we really do need to get going—we have to reach the Ruins before it gets too late. It was nice to meet you, Red.” He mumbled something that almost seemed polite, and he slipped from his chair to bow. At least it wasn’t kneeling again, and she smiled sadly before heading up to the front register.

“We’d better leave too, bro,” Papyrus said, sitting up a little and emptying out his hoodie pockets on the table, picking out bits of gold from crumpled receipts and empty cigarette packets. “Lemme just go pay—"

“Wait!” It was the first thing Red had properly said in a half hour, and they all looked at him in surprise. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a fistful of gold, holding it out to Papyrus. From what little Sans could see, he was holding at least a few thousand G, probably more. “I can help with the cost.” When Papyrus didn’t take it, he shook his hand a little in frustration.

“Red, it’s fine, it doesn’t cost that much.” Papyrus gathered up his change and stood, Red watching him in confusion and disbelief. “It’s fine, okay?” He headed up to the counter and stood beside Toriel, saying something Sans couldn’t catch which made her smother a laugh into her hand. She soon finished paying and left, Chara waving a little to Sans as they headed out the door.

Red seemed fine, if a little shell-shocked, on the walk home, but it only lasted until the door shut. He seemed to deflate, swaying on his feet as he headed for the couch. “Are you alright?”

He laughed. “We just had tea with the fucking queen, ‘ _am I alright’_? And with Muffet around, too, and a fucking human.”

“Toriel’s really nice, just strict. I feel bad we had to lie, but you don’t have to worry about her. If you live in the Underground, you’re under her protection, same as any other monster.”

He shook his head. “Back home, if you got that close to the king or queen, it was cuz they were about to execute you. And the queen with a human is even weirder.”

That caught Sans off guard. “You’ve never seen a human before?”

“Not… not like that. Not alive, anyway.” Red clenched his teeth, twisting his jacket cuffs in his hands.

It felt like Red constantly said things that scrambled Sans’s worldview, but he shook it off, trying not to think about what dead humans Red must have seen. “Well, now you have a chance! Chara’s living in the Underground with us, and they’ll be around for a while, so you have time to get to know each other. Both of you could use another friend, so it’s perfect.”

“Why would I want to be friends with a human? They’re worse than monsters. Why not just kill it and take the Soul?” Red looked like he was going to throw something or be sick, or _something_ —he was giving off so much repulsion that Sans could feel it in the air.

“Red, Chara’s our friend. Don’t say that shit again.” He flinched at Papyrus’s words and seemed to shrink on himself, looking down at the carpet.

“Chara promised Toriel she could have their Soul when they die, so they’re going to free us one day. They’re going to be the seventh soul.” It seemed so brilliantly selfless that Sans couldn’t understand why Red still looked disgusted.

“Humans are the ones who trapped us in the first place, you shouldn’t forget that. And even if they are some saint, what’s the point? Why should I bother doing anything but waiting for them to die?”

“Humans are people too! And you and Chara have a lot in common, so I think you could be good friends if you tried.”

“Why does it matter? What’s the point?”

Sans winced—this felt like an echo of all the conversations he had in the past with Papyrus, when all he had done was hide in bed and chain smoke, not wanting to work or eat or talk to anyone, tired and angry at everything. _Why even bother going to the Surface, when the humans will just kill us? What’s the point?_ “Red, it matters because you live here now. We’ve been treating it like it’s a temporary vacation, but you’re stuck here. You deserve to make friends, not just with Chara, but with everyone. You deserve to go places and meet people and do more than hide in the house, because this is your life now, and we want you to actually live it.”

He sat down abruptly, and Red jolted as he waved a hand at the couch. “Like this! Sleeping on the couch might be alright for a little while, but you need a proper bed. No wonder you’re tired all the time! I’m sure we could find a bedframe and mattress for you somewhere, or you could share beds with one of us, right Papyrus?”

He shrugged, as Red began to blush and splutter. “You can’t just say that, what the hell—"

“I know you get nightmares a lot, so maybe not sleeping alone would help. You’re welcome in my bed whenever you need it!” Red mumbled something and buried his skull in his hands. “Don’t worry, we can get you a bed of your own, but until then, you can share with us or stay on the couch, whichever you’d like. Though, if you share with Papyrus, make him change his sheets first, they’re probably disgusting. My bed’s a lot cleaner, _and_ it’s a spaceship bed. There’s no way you’d have nightmares if you slept in such a cool bed.”

“Why would you offer that?” Red finally asked, his cheekbones blotchy with crimson. “For all you know, I could kill you in your sleep.”

“You could have done that while you were on the couch. You might be lazy, but I don’t think a few stairs and a door would stop you if you wanted to hurt either one of us.”

They were going to need a bigger couch too, Sans realized as he flicked the TV on. Unless they all squished together, it wouldn’t fit three skeletons, and he figured that Red wouldn’t tolerate much squishing. Papyrus settled down on the floor against the couch, but it was hardly a permanent solution. He made a mental note to ask Alphys to look out for couches at the dump, before he became sidetracked at the idea of Alphys meeting Red. He would have to warn them both beforehand, in case she accidentally chipped away Red’s single HP with an introductory wrestle.

A bed, a new couch, people to meet, more clothing and groceries and a job (would Red want to be a sentry again, or something new?). In a perfect world, Red could have had a room of his own, but moving houses altogether would have uprooted all their lives, and the best they would be able to do would be to neaten up one of their rooms to make space for Red. Papyrus’s room had so little furniture that fitting another bed against one wall wouldn’t be a problem, but would Red want to room with him, or with Sans? There was so much to do that he was tempted to get up and start making a written list, but there would be plenty of time for that in the future, and he forced himself to keep watching TV, a talent competition held by Napstabot. Red was drifting off and barely even looking at the screen, the lights in his eyes flickering in and out. Poor guy was exhausted just from walking around and meeting a few people.

At the end of the hour, he was practically dozing, and Sans turned the TV off—it was hardly fair to keep watching when Red needed to sleep. Papyrus wandered upstairs, and Sans stood, not wanting his brother to wait too long to read him his bedtime story. He patted Red on the shoulder, so lightly it was barely a brush of fingers against his sleeve. “We just want you to feel happy, in Snowdin and with us, okay?”

Red sighed and looked away, arranging the blankets on the couch and flopping over onto his side, his back to Sans.

Sans left his bedroom door cracked open that night, anyway.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I am, as always, the slowest writer, but in my defense, Homestuck ending was pretty rough on me, and I'm not even that into Homestuck. 
> 
> For clarification, this Swap universe is a weird neutral-pacifist run, and Chara has not performed any resets, so it's their first and only run. (Also, Toriel and Asgore have split custody of Chara, because I thought it'd be cute.) In comparison, Red's universe was pre-game and not all of the six humans before Frisk had fallen, so fell Asgore only had three or four collected souls.


End file.
